A team of researchers led by David Yang, clinical instructor in the department of emergency medicine at Yale School of Medicine, has developed a new resource for emergency department (ED) clinicians to use when treating survivors of sexual assault. In a new study, the team found that the use of this tool led to improved medical and forensic care for survivors.
To ensure survivors seeking medical services are receiving the physical and psychological care they need, an interdisciplinary team of nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and social workers created an electronic health record-integrated clinical tool that features resources specific to the evaluation and management of adults seeking care in the ED after sexual assault. The tool was first implemented in a health system in southeast Connecticut on July 13, 2021.
Using information from the health system regarding 552 adult survivors of sexual assault between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2022, the authors investigated whether the use of their clinical tool improved patient care. According to their results, patients whose physicians used the tool received more forensic kits, were more likely to be connected with a sexual assault advocate, and received better medical care.